Monday, May 22, 2017
19 Dead and 50 Plus Injured in Ariana Grande Concert Explosion
IR has just received word of an explosion at Manchester Arena in London. Earlier today an explosion occurred during Ariana Grande's concert at the Arena. Cause of the explosion is unknown at this time. The London Guardian's website has confirmed 19 people dead and at least 50 injuries. We ask that everyone of you offer your prayers and support to the victims of this tragedy. If anyone wants to follow this story click here for The Guardians coverage.
Going Back to the USSR Comrade Pence?
According to WSBT-TV. Apparently some of the people in South Bend decided to give a special welcoming gift to make Vice President Mike Pence feel more at home. When entering South Bend to speak at Norte Dame Vice President Pence was greeted by this lovely display:
WSBT-TV reports:
The sign pictured above is up at the corner of South Bend Avenue and Edison. The sign is in Russian with the hammer and sickle, and at the bottom it says "Welcome Election Conspirators."
IR hasn't heard anything as far as any response from Team Pence about this symbol. IR is curious about how Mike Pence feels being associated in some people's minds with the old Soviet Empire. If anyone out there hears anything else about this let us know. In the meantime let us all pray that the Soviet Union stays dead!
Indy Car Robbery Suspects In Custody
If you are like most of us here at IR. You are probably looking forward to the upcoming INDY 500. Our hero the late great Gary Welsh would attend the 500 most years. So when we all heard about the robbing of Indy Car drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti yesterday. We were shocked and appalled and we hoped and prayed for the parties responsible to be brought to justice. We are thrilled to say that our prayers appear to have been answered.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti were robbed at gunpoint at a Taco Bell in the 3500 block of West 16th Street. Dixon’s wife Emma Davies-Dixon is also listed as a victim on the police report, as is an unidentified 25-year-old man.
The incident happened hours after Dixon won the pole position Sunday for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.
The teens are listed as 14 years old and 15 years old in the IMPD report.
IMPD said that surveillance cameras at Taco Bell caught a suspicions vehicle on video. The vehicle and the suspect appeared from the same direction, then the suspects ran in the same direction of the vehicle.
About 30 minutes later, the vehicle was located. The passenger attempted to run from police but was caught by a K-9. That passenger was positively identified by one of the victims. The driver told detectives that he was partially involved and told investigators where the stolen property was. One of the suspects was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center was the other was sent to a local hospital.
In addition to being this year’s pole sitter, Dixon is previous winner of the big race. Franchitti has made it to the winner’s circle three times.
Chip Ganassi Racing issued a statement to 24-Hour News 8:
Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti are completely fine after being held up last night by two men at a fast food restaurant in Speedway, Ind. Thank you to everyone for all of your concerns about their well-being. However, we will allow the Speedway/Indianapolis police departments to handle the situation and while they conduct their investigation we will refrain from making any further comments to allow Scott to focus on the upcoming Indianapolis 500.”
We would like to thank the IMPD for apprehending the suspects so quickly. We would also like to wish Scott and Dario good luck in the 500. Also we would like to ask all of you to pray that these two young people who allegedly robbed Misters Dixon and Franchitti. We pray that these two young people clean up their acts and that after their debts to society are paid they go onto live good and prosperous lives. IR's staff believes in outing corruption, sin, and evil wherever we see it. But we all also believe in practicing active goodness and working to achieve the final salvation of all souls. To all of you out there. This is the Indy Republican newsdesk and we wish you all a good night.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Cover up at the BMV?
If anyone out there thought that electing Eric "Bagman" Holcomb would clean up the BMV. Tony Cook's column "BMV fires supervisor and her son, won't give details" shows just how irrational hope in Holcomb is.
Tony Cook writes:
A supervisor at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and her son — also a BMV employee — have been fired after an internal fraud investigation.
But the BMV is releasing few details about the firings, rekindling concerns about openness at an agency that has overcharged customers, grappled with an ethics scandal and faced questions about politically motivated hirings.
Stacy Cox, the accounting supervisor at BMV's headquarters in Indianapolis, was terminated on March 21 for providing false information during an investigation by the agency's Fraud and Security Enforcement division.
Apparently if the BMV is to be believed lying during an investigation runs in the family. Since Cook goes onto say:
Her son, Richard Cody Pringle, who also worked at the central office as a driver's license printer, was terminated two weeks later for the same reason.
The fraud investigation was prompted by the employees' personal vehicle transactions, including allegations of the employees submitting false monetary amounts paid for those vehicles, according to Ashley Hungate, a spokeswoman for the state personnel department.
In phone interviews, Cox and Pringle defended their actions as oversights rather than deliberate misconduct.
IndyStar requested a copy of the fraud investigation reports, but the BMV refused to provide them. citing exemptions to the state's public records law regarding personnel matters.
Such reports, however, are typically released when they involve non-employees.
Government watchdogs say the agency's decision to withhold reports involving BMV employees is concerning, especially since employees fired after fraud investigations have landed sensitive jobs with BMV contractors in the past.
Sarah Bonick, a spokeswoman for the BMV, said the agency must strike a balance between employee privacy and transparency.
Cox told IndyStar the investigation began when she bought a vehicle from an Eastside junkyard, Barlow's Used Auto Parts, where her brother worked.
The vehicle turned out to be stolen. She said she was unaware that the vehicle was stolen when she bought it.
BMV investigators later found she had titled a box truck five years earlier in her name and listed the purchase price as $0, even though her then-boyfriend had paid for it, she said.
The BMV takes such indiscretions seriously because they can muddy the vehicle's ownership history and allow the new owner to avoid title costs, which include a 7 percent sales tax based on the purchase price listed on the title.
Pringle said BMV investigators questioned him about several vehicles he bought or sold, including a pickup truck he purchased from the owner of Barlow's, where his uncle worked.
"They accused me of lying about how much I paid for it," Pringle said. "I can't remember the amounts."
He then sold that vehicle for $500 and "some handguns," he said, but only listed the $500 cash on the title work. He later told BMV investigators that there was only one handgun involved in the exchange, though in reality there were "three or four," he said.
"It was none of their business how many guns I traded for," he said.
In another case, he purchased a vehicle for $2,000 from a friend, but paid only $100 in cash and agreed to work off the remaining $1,900 at his friend's shop, he said. So he listed $100 on the title work.
While the terminations may be justified, advocates of open government said the BMV should be more transparent about such situations.
"As a citizen, I am always concerned when a government agency fails to be transparent regarding offenses or violations that occur at the hands of its employees," said Zachary Baiel, president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government. "Without access to this information, the public cannot be assured the necessary accountability has been met."
Julia Vaughn, public policy director for Common Cause Indiana, shared her concerns.
"While keeping these records under wraps serves their immediate interest of avoiding public scrutiny about what happened here, in the long-term it’s just another reason for the public not to have faith in this agency," she said. "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV."
IndyStar reported in 2015 that at least three fired BMV employees were later hired by a BMV contractor, where they continued to have access to sensitive information stored on BMV terminals.
Two of the employees had been fired after a fraud investigation; the other was terminated for poor performance that supervisors said opened up the agency to potential fraud.
As in this latest case, the BMV declined to release any of the FSE investigation reports related to those employees.
Bonick said the BMV now has safeguards to ensure that fired employees don't end up working in similar positions for outside contractors.
"All potential employees who will have access to BMV terminals or our transaction system while working for a contractor are vetted through the State Personnel Department and also the BMV’s Fraud and Security Enforcement Department," she said in an email. "Any former State of Indiana employee, not just those who previously worked for the BMV, who have been flagged as Not Eligible For Rehire are not approved."
The firings come after several turbulent years for the agency. Since 2013, the BMV has admitted to overcharging Hoosier motorists about $90 million in taxes and fees. Those overcharges have since been refunded, but one of two class-action lawsuits over the fees remains unresolved.
Any IndyStar investigation in 2015 found that top BMV officials knew for years they were likely gouging Hoosier motorists with excessive fees, but chose to ignore or cover up the overcharges rather than refund the extra money and adjust to significant budget losses.
The financial mismanagement raised serious questions about the qualifications of several top BMV officials and the role that political connections played in their hiring.
IndyStar also found that Shawn Walters, the agency's former chief of staff, encouraged the use of a new fee, then went to work for a private vendor that benefited from it.
The series of controversies led then-Gov. Mike Pence to shake up BMV leadership and cancel the state's contract with the controversial outside vendor. The state ethics commission later fined Walters $500 for violating state ethics rules — an amount that government accountability experts criticized as too low.
The BMV has since worked with lawmakers to streamline the state's complicated system of fees.
Well we can all see why Holcomb didn't have a problem vetoing the controversial public records search fee bill. It is because he knows his lapdogs throughout state government will refuse to release records by claiming they relate to "personnel matters". As for BMV spokeswoman Sarah Bonick's stating they have to balance employee privacy with transparency. We ask: "Ms. Bonick how is that applicable in this case?" Cox and Pringle are no longer employed by the BMV. So how can the BMV say that by keeping their fraud investigation reports secret you are protecting employee privacy? Especially since reports are usually released when non-employees are involved? Even conceding that somehow the agency is interested in protecting Cox and Pringle's privacy. Cox and Pringle have given interviews to the Indianapolis Star. So obviously they are not concerned about their own privacy. So there is no reason for the BMV not to release the information.
Last June we blogged about several BMV scandals and gave links to Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Charlie White's chronicling of all the BMV stupidity. IR must confess that Julia Vaughn's saying "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV." Has all of us thinking this is more likely than not the reason for the BMV's being so reluctant to release the information in this case. But if so who at the BMV stands to be embarrassed by this and why? For the record IR is not saying that this is anything other than a simple fraud investigation. That we don't know. But given the BMV's troubled history. Our natural inclination is to assume a cover up. Unless we are given reason to believe otherwise. If you have any information, rumors or tips. Please leave a comment at the end of this post. Or on the web version of this blog fill out the contact form and submit it.
From all of us here at IR we wish you all a good rest of the week. And remember stay positive.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Mike Pence and Indiana Secretary of State Connie "Freeloader" Lawson to be part of Voter Fraud Commission
Earlier today that lovable gadfly Paul Ogden wrote an article called Vice President Pence Damages His Reputation in Conveying False Narrative About Comey Firing. IR continues to be impressed by Paul's writing. And we all here welcome his contribution to the cause of freedom. Around the same time today as Paul Ogden's piece appeared. News broke that President Trump had signed an executive order to investigate claims of voter fraud said to have occurred during last years presidential race. David Jackson & Deborah Barfield Barry of USA Today wrote in Mike Pence, Connie Lawson to study 'voter fraud' as part of Trump commission:
The commission will be chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, who will be joined by up to 15 other members, including Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has advocated for some of the most restrictive election laws in the country, will serve as the commission's vice chair.
"The president's committed to the thorough review of registration and voting issues in federal elections,'' said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. "And that's exactly what this commission is tasked with doing.''
The order calls for the commission to study the "vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting.''
The advisory commission set up to "promote fair and honest federal elections'' will hold public meetings and meet with federal state and local officials as well as election experts, according to the order. The commission is expected to present a report to the president next year.
If the intention of the commission really is "to promote fair and honest federal elections". Than Mike Pence and current Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson should be removed from this group immediately. It has been given little attention so far by the Indiana or National Media so far. But a cursory look at both Mike Pence and Connie Lawson's electoral careers shows that there are serious questions about their voting and residencies. We are not saying there is anything illegal. But given the legal and public beating inflicted on Lawson's predecessor former State Secretary of State Charlie White for allegedly voting in the wrong precinct one time in his entire life. Justice demands that Pence and Lawson's conduct as office holders and candidates be examined in the same manner.
Mr. Charlie White has written online and spoken on his podcast series at length about both Pence and Lawson's issues.
Writing on his Facebook page Mr. White has this to say:
October 3, 2015
The State of Indiana is a backward 'state of men' and not of law. The "law" shifts, alters and is "suspended" depending upon "who you are"...It is akin to driving down the street and the state changes the posted speed limit to give you a ticket, after which they abruptly change it back for the benefit of others. Its like trying to kick a field goal in football and they move the uprights as the ball is in the air so the ball doesn't go through. Be on notice that the word "shall" for statutes that provide you rights & privileges really means "may" and "may" really means "shall". Legally defined words in the code are ignored and words not defined in the code have shifting meanings depending on the day. Im really getting sick of "Tricky" Dick Lugar holding a court order saying he can continue to vote from an abandoned farm house with no water or sewer while he "lives" in Virginia after the AG Greg Zoeller said he could vote from a strangers house for 36 years (because Greg Zoeller did it too!!) Or Gov. Mike Pence living off the SAME ROAD (Olio road) in Fishers as me, enrolling his daughter in HSE schools as he votes from Columbus?! Of course, pampered Gov. Pence didn't feel compelled to disclose on his campaign reports that Indiana Builders Council board member Bill O'Gorman provided the $400K Fishers house for "the convenience of (Pence's) family". Of course, the media doesn't like talking about them, Mitch Daniels, Evan Bayh or the judges who live in one county/state and vote in another over their "intent" because they know damn well someone with a 5th grade education can see that something doesn't line up. If you mention anything about this, see how quickly people suddenly lose the ability to speak and want to change the subject or simply lie about the facts of these kingpins. If you value your liberty and you are dumb enough like me to ask public officials in your own grand old party to stop taking lavish free vacations in exchange for road and bridge projects, run out of Indiana as fast as you can. Everyone, not just me, deserves fair notice on what the law is...and we all deserve equal protection under the law where folks are similarly situated. Indiana, unfortunately, changes law "retroactively" (ex post facto) to make legal behavior 'illegal'..even if its temporarily illegal to get one person. If mandatory statutes and 100 years of published case law are no longer valid, it would've been nice to know.
I think you see that its a free for all. Secretary "Freeloader" Lawson and her husband had homesteads in Hendricks Co., Marion County and in Arizona all at the same time!! If that were us we would be crucified...but she is one of the elites. Mitch Daniels claimed a homestead in Hamilton County in his special mansion he told the world he wouldn't build it bc it was in a county where he legally couldn't reside as governor. Pence claimed a homestead in columbus while living down the road from me in fishers in 2012 as he enrolled his child in HSE schools.
If what Mr. White says is accurate especially in regards to Connie Lawson having had multiple simultaneous homestead exemptions in Indiana and another in Arizona. Then she has some serious explaining to do! As far as we are aware you can only claim one homestead exemption period! So why did Mrs. Lawson have different homesteads in Indiana and Arizona? There might be an answer for them. But unless Connie Lawson is willing to explain whether or not this is true she should either step down from the advisory commission or be tossed from it!
As for why Mike Pence is not the man you want in charge of cleaning up voter fraud. As IR pointed out not that long ago Mike and Karen Pence listed on their 2011 tax return that they lived in Arlington, Virginia. Which is very problematic considering that Pence ran for and was elected governor of Indiana in 2012. The reason this is an issue is because according to the Article 5, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana:
Here is a shot of Mike and Karen Pence's 2011 tax return:
Now if as Mike Pence's tax return from 2011 states that he was living in Virginia that year. Than how could he have possibly resided in Indiana for the five years preceding the 2012 Gubernatorial election to legally qualify to run for Governor? If his Form 1040 that is signed under penalty of perjury is to be believed than he could not and did not meet the eligibility requirements to run for and be elected Governor in 2012. So either his 2011 tax return address was in some way wrong, or his voter registration and homestead in Columbus, Indiana was in error. One of these maybe true but one of them has to logically be wrong!
In light of the already cantankerous political atmosphere of today's world. Mike Pence and Connie Lawson should have had there backgrounds checked out further. We can already see the Democrats going after Pence and Lawson right now in order to gain more of an edge in next years midterm elections. We agree with Paul Ogden that Pence has destroyed his credibility. We would argue however that Pence trashed his credibility decades ago and he should be sent into political retirement.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Legislator's Force Hoosier Taxpayers to Pay for Governor Mike "Pampered" Pence's Bicentennial Boondoogle!
We wish we could say we are surprised to find out that Indiana lawmakers decided to fork over the money to take care of former Governor Mike Pence's Pork Barrel Bicentennial Projects! But as we predicted back in January:
If past experience is any indication the legislators including Kenley will probably come up with some other bone-headed plan to take care of former Governor Pence's mistakes!
An article written today by the Associated Press appeared on the Indianapolis Business Journal's website which details the bailing out of Mike Pence's stupidity. The AP writes:
Indiana lawmakers are bailing out the state's former governor, Vice President Mike Pence, after the Republican's efforts to pay for two completed projects celebrating the state's bicentennial foundered.
A provision tucked into the state's next two-year budget, which was approved late last month by the GOP-dominated Legislature, sets aside $5.5 million to pay for an elaborate plaza constructed outside the Statehouse in Indianapolis and upgrades to the state library.
"They did the work, so somebody had to pay for it," said Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who is one of the state's lead budget writers.
As the AP points out though the bulk of Pence's planned projects have yet to be funded:
Still, funding for the rest of the $53.5 million in projects Pence planned to celebrate Indiana's 200th year has not materialized, including financing for a new state archives building and money to build an inn at northern Indiana's Potato Creek State Park. It's unclear when—or if—the state will move forward with those projects, which have been on hold for more than a year.
Lawmakers were skeptical when Pence first pitched the plan in 2015, with Kenley questioning "if we could afford a bicentennial." Pence won them over after proposing to pay for the projects by leasing out 340 state-owned cellphone towers through a public-private partnership.
But one year later, Pence was still struggling to make his plan work. He even declined an offer of help from Kenley, who proposed shifting money from a revenue stream used to pay for some of Pence's other priorities.
As IR wrote back in January:
Lawmakers agreed to spend tax dollars on these assorted projects because Mike Pence had assured them it would be paid for by leasing excess space on state-owned cell towers. And two years later the state has no cell tower deal. Now the IR staff does not generally handle large scale business transactions. But it seems to all of us that both Pence and the legislators share blame for this. Pence should have at least had some deal ready to cover the costs of these projects in full before proposing this to the legislature. The legislators on the other hand should have made certain that Pence actually had something on the table and wasn't just blowing smoke to get them to agree to another of his half-baked schemes!
AP continues:
Then last September, Pence touted a new 25-year deal with Agile Networks that his administration said would expand high-speed internet access in rural areas, while bringing in $50 million for the state upfront.
But that drew opposition from the state's cable and broadband trade groups, which represent companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner, because it would've allowed Agile—a competitor—to get a leg up and use the state's fiber network.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, Pence's successor, pulled the plug on the tentative plan shortly after taking office this year.
Rep. Greg Porter, the Democrats' point person on the budget, said Pence was counting on "magic money that didn't appear."
"I knew it was highly suspect because it took so long to develop," said Porter, of Indianapolis. "He planned for a party, had the party and didn't have anybody to pay for it."
A spokesman for Pence did not respond to a request for comment.
Kenley said the agreement with Agile ended up being more complicated than it initially appeared and could have negatively impacted local companies.
"The subject matter was more complicated than we initially expected it to be," he said.
It would have granted extensive control of state property to Agile, which would have been in charge of managing and operating the towers. That could have required competitors to reveal confidential business plans when seeking right-of-way approval from Agile to use state lands.
"On the face of it, it was anti-competitive to my members," said John Koppin, president of the Indiana Broadband and Technology Association, which represents AT&T and CenturyLink, among others.
Kenley and Holcomb said they hope to come up with a workable alternative in the future. In a memo, Holcomb administration officials said that the governor intends to "manage the individual leases on towers ourselves instead of seeking proposals for third-party managers."
They also hope revenues from a new deal will finally fund the projects Pence first proposed.
IR's staffs interest was piqued after reading about the now aborted deal with Agile Networks that would have given them what comes dangerously close to a monopoly over the state of Indiana's cell phone towers. Given what has been revealed about Mike Pence we seriously doubted that he wanted to lease the cell phone towers to Agile Networks for the benefit of Hoosiers. So we decided to do some digging into Agile Networks. It appears that Kyle Quillen, a founder and Chief Technology Officer at Agile had donated money to Mike Pence's Campaign. According to Quillen's bio on Agile's website:
Quillen is a "a nationally recognized leader in the design, engineering and deployment of Data Infrastructure aimed at Economic Development and reducing costs for Government."
Quillen's LinkedIn page says:
He is: "Experienced in Public/Private Partnerships aimed at Broadband Development and Data Infrastructure Building."
Sounds like a polite way of saying that Quillen is also responsible for trying to buy access to government officals in order to help fill his companies coffers! Public/Private Partnerships have become synonymous over the past few decades with legalized influence peddling!
Looks like the local and national media should start looking more closely into Agile Networks relationship with Mike Pence. Especially since Eric Holcomb's administration has stated they hope a new deal will come about that will fully fund Mike Pence's proposed projects! Sounds like "Bagman" Holcomb could have killed the deal with Agile only to be setting up taxpayers with an equally bad if not worse deal!
See below for the record of Mr. Quillen's contribution to Mike Pence in 2016:
If past experience is any indication the legislators including Kenley will probably come up with some other bone-headed plan to take care of former Governor Pence's mistakes!
An article written today by the Associated Press appeared on the Indianapolis Business Journal's website which details the bailing out of Mike Pence's stupidity. The AP writes:
Indiana lawmakers are bailing out the state's former governor, Vice President Mike Pence, after the Republican's efforts to pay for two completed projects celebrating the state's bicentennial foundered.
A provision tucked into the state's next two-year budget, which was approved late last month by the GOP-dominated Legislature, sets aside $5.5 million to pay for an elaborate plaza constructed outside the Statehouse in Indianapolis and upgrades to the state library.
"They did the work, so somebody had to pay for it," said Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who is one of the state's lead budget writers.
As the AP points out though the bulk of Pence's planned projects have yet to be funded:
Still, funding for the rest of the $53.5 million in projects Pence planned to celebrate Indiana's 200th year has not materialized, including financing for a new state archives building and money to build an inn at northern Indiana's Potato Creek State Park. It's unclear when—or if—the state will move forward with those projects, which have been on hold for more than a year.
Lawmakers were skeptical when Pence first pitched the plan in 2015, with Kenley questioning "if we could afford a bicentennial." Pence won them over after proposing to pay for the projects by leasing out 340 state-owned cellphone towers through a public-private partnership.
But one year later, Pence was still struggling to make his plan work. He even declined an offer of help from Kenley, who proposed shifting money from a revenue stream used to pay for some of Pence's other priorities.
As IR wrote back in January:
Lawmakers agreed to spend tax dollars on these assorted projects because Mike Pence had assured them it would be paid for by leasing excess space on state-owned cell towers. And two years later the state has no cell tower deal. Now the IR staff does not generally handle large scale business transactions. But it seems to all of us that both Pence and the legislators share blame for this. Pence should have at least had some deal ready to cover the costs of these projects in full before proposing this to the legislature. The legislators on the other hand should have made certain that Pence actually had something on the table and wasn't just blowing smoke to get them to agree to another of his half-baked schemes!
AP continues:
Then last September, Pence touted a new 25-year deal with Agile Networks that his administration said would expand high-speed internet access in rural areas, while bringing in $50 million for the state upfront.
But that drew opposition from the state's cable and broadband trade groups, which represent companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner, because it would've allowed Agile—a competitor—to get a leg up and use the state's fiber network.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, Pence's successor, pulled the plug on the tentative plan shortly after taking office this year.
Rep. Greg Porter, the Democrats' point person on the budget, said Pence was counting on "magic money that didn't appear."
"I knew it was highly suspect because it took so long to develop," said Porter, of Indianapolis. "He planned for a party, had the party and didn't have anybody to pay for it."
A spokesman for Pence did not respond to a request for comment.
Kenley said the agreement with Agile ended up being more complicated than it initially appeared and could have negatively impacted local companies.
"The subject matter was more complicated than we initially expected it to be," he said.
It would have granted extensive control of state property to Agile, which would have been in charge of managing and operating the towers. That could have required competitors to reveal confidential business plans when seeking right-of-way approval from Agile to use state lands.
"On the face of it, it was anti-competitive to my members," said John Koppin, president of the Indiana Broadband and Technology Association, which represents AT&T and CenturyLink, among others.
Kenley and Holcomb said they hope to come up with a workable alternative in the future. In a memo, Holcomb administration officials said that the governor intends to "manage the individual leases on towers ourselves instead of seeking proposals for third-party managers."
They also hope revenues from a new deal will finally fund the projects Pence first proposed.
IR's staffs interest was piqued after reading about the now aborted deal with Agile Networks that would have given them what comes dangerously close to a monopoly over the state of Indiana's cell phone towers. Given what has been revealed about Mike Pence we seriously doubted that he wanted to lease the cell phone towers to Agile Networks for the benefit of Hoosiers. So we decided to do some digging into Agile Networks. It appears that Kyle Quillen, a founder and Chief Technology Officer at Agile had donated money to Mike Pence's Campaign. According to Quillen's bio on Agile's website:
Quillen is a "a nationally recognized leader in the design, engineering and deployment of Data Infrastructure aimed at Economic Development and reducing costs for Government."
Quillen's LinkedIn page says:
He is: "Experienced in Public/Private Partnerships aimed at Broadband Development and Data Infrastructure Building."
Sounds like a polite way of saying that Quillen is also responsible for trying to buy access to government officals in order to help fill his companies coffers! Public/Private Partnerships have become synonymous over the past few decades with legalized influence peddling!
Looks like the local and national media should start looking more closely into Agile Networks relationship with Mike Pence. Especially since Eric Holcomb's administration has stated they hope a new deal will come about that will fully fund Mike Pence's proposed projects! Sounds like "Bagman" Holcomb could have killed the deal with Agile only to be setting up taxpayers with an equally bad if not worse deal!
See below for the record of Mr. Quillen's contribution to Mike Pence in 2016:
| Committee Name: | Mike Pence for Indiana | Filing Description: | 2016 2nd Quarterly Report |
| File Number: | 6171 | Reporting Period: | 04/01/2016 - 06/30/2016 |
| Committee Type: | Candidate | Filing Due: | 07/15/2016 |
| Contributor Type: | Receipt Date: | Amount: | Cumulative Year-To-Date: | Large: | Contribution Type: | Amendment: |
| Individual | 04/22/2016 | $500.00 | No | Direct | No | |
| Contributor: | Kyle Quillen | Occupation: | Other |
| 518 Fair Ave. NW | |||
| New Philadelphia, OH 44663 | |||
Friday, May 5, 2017
Rush Limbaugh Castrates Mike Pence
 |
| Mike Pence (Left) struggling to defend the budget deal to Rush Limbaugh (Right) |
We have been getting some feedback lately and some of our readers express the belief that IR has been portraying fake republican former Indiana Governor now Vice President Mike Pence in too positive a light. This has us all scratching our heads. But to assuage our valued readers. We decided to write this post which we hope will once and for all settle any doubts as to IR's feelings towards Mike "Pampered" Pence. On Tuesday May 2nd, 2017. Mike Pence called into the Rush Limbaugh show to try to sell the God awful budget that the House of Representatives had just voted to pass.
Debra Heine of PJMedia.com wrote on May 3rd, 2017 about Vice President Pence's attempt to defend this un defendable budget deal. Ms. Heine writes:
Vice President Mike Pence called into The Rush Limbaugh Show yesterday to defend the budget deal. Right off the bat Limbaugh asked Pence, "Mr. Vice President, why vote Republican?"
What is the point of voting Republican if the Democrats are gonna continue to win practically 95% of their objectives, such as in this last budget deal?
Pence characterized the deal as a "win for the American people," a characterization Limbaugh didn't quite accept.
If I’m the Democrats, $21 billion, $15 billion for defense that was not originally authorized, that’s a small price to pay for continuing to fund refugee resettlement, continuing to fund Planned Parenthood, continuing to fund sanctuary cities, continuing to fund the EPA, and not build the wall. The Democrats clearly think this is a big win, and they’re confident they can block Trump’s agenda after this spending bill for the rest of Trump’s term. There isn’t anything of the president’s agenda in this budget, and people are beginning to ask, when’s that gonna happen? If you’re gonna shut it down in September, why not now?As much as all of us here at IR are no longer think very much of Rush Limbaugh. He is absolutely right in asking VP Pence why should the voters vote for republicans if all that winds up happening is that Democrats still get the overwhelming majority of their pet projects funded! Also why would the White House think that having a government shutdown is a reasonable idea in September but not now? This endless water carrying for Washington D.C. insiders only confirms our belief we expressed in a previous post. That Mike Pence is simply a yes-man whose man of the people image is simply a fraud. If this keeps up we predict that Pence has nothing to look forward to except another four or heaven forbid eight years of butthurt to experience trying to sell a load of crap to the American people.
Okay so does this satisfy all the naysayers out there that think we were going to easy on Mike Pence?
Monday, April 24, 2017
Governor Holcomb stands up for Hoosiers Vetos Anti-Public Records Bill!
Good evening boys and girls! This is a first for us here at IR. We are actually going to give a compliment to Governor Eric Holcomb. In our last blog post we called on Hoosiers everywhere to contact Governor Holcomb and ask him to veto HB 1523 or as we call it "Death of Public Records Act". The Indianapolis Business Journal has the story here:
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb used the first stroke of his veto pen Monday afternoon on a bill that would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge a fee to citizens for public records requests that required more than two hours of work.
In a letter to House Speaker Brian Bosma, Holcomb wrote that the legislation was “contrary to my commitment to providing great government service at a great value for Hoosier taxpayers.”
“Providing access to public records is a key part of the work public servants perform and is important from a government transparency standpoint,” Holcomb wrote. “I do not support policies that create burdensome obstacles to the public gaining access to public documents.”
The measure by Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge the lesser of $20 per hour or the hourly wage of the employee completing the search, after the first two hours spent working on the request.
The bill required a "good faith effort" to complete the search within a reasonable amount of time but did not set out who would audit agencies or hold them accountable.
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government had urged Holcomb to veto the proposal, calling it a step to "make government less open and insufficiently accountable" by adding barriers to access.
Indiana's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also opposed the bill.
Holcomb said he understood the intent behind the bill and said he supported a provision that would require public agencies to provide electronic copies of public records.
“Finally, I believe there are steps that can be taken administratively to streamline and improve the process for fulfilling public records requests, and I have charged my office to examine the best ways to provide public transparency and access to public records at the highest possible value to taxpayers,” Holcomb said.
We would like to make clear that this post should not be taken to mean that our already low opinion of Eric Holcomb has changed. It has not. But when any public official does something we view as praise worthy. We are big enough to say so. We also would like to congratulate the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Society of Professional Journalists on their efforts to defend all our freedoms! No word on yet on what kind of input Governor Holcomb received over this bill. Not sure if he got the singing telegram or not! Word around the capitol is that Gary Welsh's ghost maybe haunting some of the lawmakers! We cannot comment on that. However it is safe to say that the influence of Gary Welsh lives on. And his influence will not end! Thank you Gary for inspiring us all here to make this a more positive state and planet.
Here is a little song to celebrate our victory:
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb used the first stroke of his veto pen Monday afternoon on a bill that would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge a fee to citizens for public records requests that required more than two hours of work.
In a letter to House Speaker Brian Bosma, Holcomb wrote that the legislation was “contrary to my commitment to providing great government service at a great value for Hoosier taxpayers.”
“Providing access to public records is a key part of the work public servants perform and is important from a government transparency standpoint,” Holcomb wrote. “I do not support policies that create burdensome obstacles to the public gaining access to public documents.”
The measure by Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge the lesser of $20 per hour or the hourly wage of the employee completing the search, after the first two hours spent working on the request.
The bill required a "good faith effort" to complete the search within a reasonable amount of time but did not set out who would audit agencies or hold them accountable.
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government had urged Holcomb to veto the proposal, calling it a step to "make government less open and insufficiently accountable" by adding barriers to access.
Indiana's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also opposed the bill.
Holcomb said he understood the intent behind the bill and said he supported a provision that would require public agencies to provide electronic copies of public records.
“Finally, I believe there are steps that can be taken administratively to streamline and improve the process for fulfilling public records requests, and I have charged my office to examine the best ways to provide public transparency and access to public records at the highest possible value to taxpayers,” Holcomb said.
We would like to make clear that this post should not be taken to mean that our already low opinion of Eric Holcomb has changed. It has not. But when any public official does something we view as praise worthy. We are big enough to say so. We also would like to congratulate the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Society of Professional Journalists on their efforts to defend all our freedoms! No word on yet on what kind of input Governor Holcomb received over this bill. Not sure if he got the singing telegram or not! Word around the capitol is that Gary Welsh's ghost maybe haunting some of the lawmakers! We cannot comment on that. However it is safe to say that the influence of Gary Welsh lives on. And his influence will not end! Thank you Gary for inspiring us all here to make this a more positive state and planet.
Here is a little song to celebrate our victory:
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Indy Republican Joins the Call to Defeat Blasphemous Bill to End Access to Public Records!
Back in February we published a column about the Indiana Legislature's move toward the goal of eliminating We The People's access to public records. Earlier today fellow blogger and freedom fighter Jon Easter wrote a great post entitled: "Holcomb Should Halt General Assembly Assault on Government Transparency". Urging Governor Eric Holcomb to veto House Bill 1523 the bill that would add a $20 an hour search fee to the public for requesting public records. We here have been following this issue for quite sometime. We had planned on writing about it today anyway. But Jon Easter's well written column helped to spur an even greater sense of urgency among us all to help protect the public's access to public records. For that you have our everlasting thanks Jon! Here is our take on HB 1523. You can read the bill by clicking here.
Kaitlin Lange of the Evansville Courier & Press wrote an article yesterday detailing this issue. Ms. Lange gives information on the bill's present state and gives statements from supporters and opponents of the bill here:
Gov. Eric Holcomb will decide the fate of legislation that would allow units of government to charge up to $20 an hour to citizens and media representatives seeking public records.
The House on Tuesday voted 63-27 to send House Bill 1523 to the governor. It would allow the hourly charge to kick in for a records search requiring more than two hours of work. The bill previously cleared the Senate on a 44-3 vote.
Bill author Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, said 27 other states and the federal government already allow such fees.
Well Kathy a lot of elevator's play Kenny G music! That doesn't make it right! IR already has a low enough opinion of this bill! Couldn't you at least have come up with a better argument than to say "Well everybody else is doing this!"
Lange continues:
Former Gov. Mike Pence vetoed a similar measure two years ago, saying "the cost of public records should never be a barrier to the public’s right to know."
The governor has the option of vetoing the bill, signing it into law or allowing it to become law without his signature.
Those opposed to the bill say that people already pay taxes and should not have to pay again to get access to public records.
“It’s the taxpayer’s property," argued Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government and Indiana Pro Society of Professional Journalists also issued statements against the legislation, saying it could make it “cost prohibitive” for both journalists and concerned citizens to find out how their tax money is being spent and hold elected officials accountable.
“Government employees could deliberately drag their feet on such requests, racking up exorbitant charges to produce records the taxpaying public already paid for in the first place, either to shut down requests or deter them in the future,” SPJ said in a statement.
Those in support of the bill said fulfilling the large amount of records requests that are filed can be time consuming for public agencies.
Rep. Karen Englemen, R-Corydon, said she saw this firsthand as former Harrison County auditor.
“Some people come in and ask for hours and hours of research to be done,” Engleman said. “We don’t get paid anything for doing that.”
The legislation heads to the governor a month after Indiana was ranked the No. 1 state for budget transparency and government administration.
Mike Pence's decision to veto this bills dad two years ago is probably the only good decision that he made while he was Governor. We agree completely with State Rep Matt Pierce-D when he states that public records are taxpayers property and hence we should not be charged a fee to examine our own property. You go Matt Pierce! We were so impressed by the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists strong support for freedom of information that we have added them to our list of Pro-Freedom Sites! They are right on when they say: “Government employees could deliberately drag their feet on such requests, racking up exorbitant charges to produce records the taxpaying public already paid for in the first place, either to shut down requests or deter them in the future.” We have news for all of you government employees in this state already drag their feet on public records requests. The biggest problem with this bill is that we would then be paying them more to screw us over!
Fake Republican State Rep Karen Engleman's statement that based off her experiences as Harrison County Auditor gives her lame ass excuse to make taxpayers take it up the rear is laughable. Engleman says: “Some people come in and ask for hours and hours of research to be done,” “We don’t get paid anything for doing that.” So what in the hell are you paid to do then? We know that it is a major annoyance for you and your soulless friends to actually do their jobs and provide the public with their own records! You guys are supposed to make things easier for the people! We are not supposed to make your lives better! Karen if doing your job really sucks then our advice is that you quit!
As for Indiana having been ranked the best state in the nation for budget transparency and government administration see our earlier article last month here that shows why anybody who believes that needs to seek help for drug addiction! The overwhelming bipartisian backing for HB 1523 is proof enough that our state legislature is so bad it smells worse than the outhouse outside a White Castle!
This is to our knowledge the first article we have ever read of Ms. Lange's and we must say we are all very impressed with her work. Please contact Ms. Lange and let her know you appreciate her talent! She can be reached at (812) 549-1429. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange
The Indianapolis Business Journal also ran an article by the Associated Press which contains some more information on the legislatures blatant attempt to crush the voters.
IBJ's story includes these kernels of knowledge:
The bill requires a "good faith effort" to complete the search within a reasonable amount of time but does not set out who would audit agencies or hold them accountable. State law currently prohibits public agencies from charging a fee to search for, examine or review a record to determine whether it can be disclosed. Opponents say concerned citizens should not have to pay to access public records.
Supporters of the hourly fee argue government agencies can be bogged down by large requests and that compensation would help to alleviate the burden on government resources.
This bill also requires public agencies to provide electronic copies if they are requested and already exist. It does not require the agency to change the format of the public record.
It comes as no surprise that the legislation does not spell out what a "good faith effort" is on the part of government agencies. So that portion of the bill is completely useless! Since state law currently bans public agencies from charging a fee to search for records. Why should it be changed now? The traitorous lawmakers who support this are being less than honest when they say this is to help ease the strain on government resources. Most Indiana lawmakers have had no problem burdening us with the screw-ups of FSSA, the BMV, DWD, and DCS! Speaking of DCS any word on when the tragic death of Tajanay Bailey and DCS's handling of that case will ever be investigated? It's only been about a decade since she died! So don't give us this crap that you guys give a damn about burdening people!
It is time to say enough is enough! We all must contact Governor Holcomb's office and tell him to veto this bill! Contact his office and tell him that if he signs this or any other bill like this one that you will recruit a real republican to challenge him in the primary. And also tell him if that fails that you will vote for whoever the Democrats nominate to oppose him should he run for Governor again!
We will provide below Governor Holcomb's contact information as well as how to get ahold of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the ISPJ. Don't just call, email, tweet, or facebook post or message, or send a signing telegram to Governor Holcomb about this! Post, Call, Email, Voicemail, tweet, write him every five minutes! Send so many messages that his email, voicemail, twitter feed, and facebook starts begging you to stop! And then just keep piling on! Don't let up! Our freedom is at stake! Now get to work making some calls our friends!
Governor Eric Holcomb Contact Information:
Phone:
317-232-4567
Mail:
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Email form link for Governor Holcomb:
http://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm
Indiana Coalition for Open Government:
http://indianacog.org/
Indy Pro Society of Professional Journalists:
http://www.indyprospj.org/
Spread these statements all over the internet!
http://indianacog.org/icog-news/icogs-opposition-hb1523-gov-holcomb-must-veto/
http://www.indyprospj.org/news/2017/4/3/statement-on-senate-bill-1523
http://www.indianaforefront.com/bad-bills-never-die/
Kaitlin Lange of the Evansville Courier & Press wrote an article yesterday detailing this issue. Ms. Lange gives information on the bill's present state and gives statements from supporters and opponents of the bill here:
Gov. Eric Holcomb will decide the fate of legislation that would allow units of government to charge up to $20 an hour to citizens and media representatives seeking public records.
The House on Tuesday voted 63-27 to send House Bill 1523 to the governor. It would allow the hourly charge to kick in for a records search requiring more than two hours of work. The bill previously cleared the Senate on a 44-3 vote.
Bill author Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, said 27 other states and the federal government already allow such fees.
Well Kathy a lot of elevator's play Kenny G music! That doesn't make it right! IR already has a low enough opinion of this bill! Couldn't you at least have come up with a better argument than to say "Well everybody else is doing this!"
Lange continues:
Former Gov. Mike Pence vetoed a similar measure two years ago, saying "the cost of public records should never be a barrier to the public’s right to know."
The governor has the option of vetoing the bill, signing it into law or allowing it to become law without his signature.
Those opposed to the bill say that people already pay taxes and should not have to pay again to get access to public records.
“It’s the taxpayer’s property," argued Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government and Indiana Pro Society of Professional Journalists also issued statements against the legislation, saying it could make it “cost prohibitive” for both journalists and concerned citizens to find out how their tax money is being spent and hold elected officials accountable.
“Government employees could deliberately drag their feet on such requests, racking up exorbitant charges to produce records the taxpaying public already paid for in the first place, either to shut down requests or deter them in the future,” SPJ said in a statement.
Those in support of the bill said fulfilling the large amount of records requests that are filed can be time consuming for public agencies.
Rep. Karen Englemen, R-Corydon, said she saw this firsthand as former Harrison County auditor.
“Some people come in and ask for hours and hours of research to be done,” Engleman said. “We don’t get paid anything for doing that.”
The legislation heads to the governor a month after Indiana was ranked the No. 1 state for budget transparency and government administration.
Mike Pence's decision to veto this bills dad two years ago is probably the only good decision that he made while he was Governor. We agree completely with State Rep Matt Pierce-D when he states that public records are taxpayers property and hence we should not be charged a fee to examine our own property. You go Matt Pierce! We were so impressed by the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists strong support for freedom of information that we have added them to our list of Pro-Freedom Sites! They are right on when they say: “Government employees could deliberately drag their feet on such requests, racking up exorbitant charges to produce records the taxpaying public already paid for in the first place, either to shut down requests or deter them in the future.” We have news for all of you government employees in this state already drag their feet on public records requests. The biggest problem with this bill is that we would then be paying them more to screw us over!
Fake Republican State Rep Karen Engleman's statement that based off her experiences as Harrison County Auditor gives her lame ass excuse to make taxpayers take it up the rear is laughable. Engleman says: “Some people come in and ask for hours and hours of research to be done,” “We don’t get paid anything for doing that.” So what in the hell are you paid to do then? We know that it is a major annoyance for you and your soulless friends to actually do their jobs and provide the public with their own records! You guys are supposed to make things easier for the people! We are not supposed to make your lives better! Karen if doing your job really sucks then our advice is that you quit!
As for Indiana having been ranked the best state in the nation for budget transparency and government administration see our earlier article last month here that shows why anybody who believes that needs to seek help for drug addiction! The overwhelming bipartisian backing for HB 1523 is proof enough that our state legislature is so bad it smells worse than the outhouse outside a White Castle!
This is to our knowledge the first article we have ever read of Ms. Lange's and we must say we are all very impressed with her work. Please contact Ms. Lange and let her know you appreciate her talent! She can be reached at (812) 549-1429. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange
The Indianapolis Business Journal also ran an article by the Associated Press which contains some more information on the legislatures blatant attempt to crush the voters.
IBJ's story includes these kernels of knowledge:
The bill requires a "good faith effort" to complete the search within a reasonable amount of time but does not set out who would audit agencies or hold them accountable. State law currently prohibits public agencies from charging a fee to search for, examine or review a record to determine whether it can be disclosed. Opponents say concerned citizens should not have to pay to access public records.
Supporters of the hourly fee argue government agencies can be bogged down by large requests and that compensation would help to alleviate the burden on government resources.
This bill also requires public agencies to provide electronic copies if they are requested and already exist. It does not require the agency to change the format of the public record.
It comes as no surprise that the legislation does not spell out what a "good faith effort" is on the part of government agencies. So that portion of the bill is completely useless! Since state law currently bans public agencies from charging a fee to search for records. Why should it be changed now? The traitorous lawmakers who support this are being less than honest when they say this is to help ease the strain on government resources. Most Indiana lawmakers have had no problem burdening us with the screw-ups of FSSA, the BMV, DWD, and DCS! Speaking of DCS any word on when the tragic death of Tajanay Bailey and DCS's handling of that case will ever be investigated? It's only been about a decade since she died! So don't give us this crap that you guys give a damn about burdening people!
It is time to say enough is enough! We all must contact Governor Holcomb's office and tell him to veto this bill! Contact his office and tell him that if he signs this or any other bill like this one that you will recruit a real republican to challenge him in the primary. And also tell him if that fails that you will vote for whoever the Democrats nominate to oppose him should he run for Governor again!
We will provide below Governor Holcomb's contact information as well as how to get ahold of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the ISPJ. Don't just call, email, tweet, or facebook post or message, or send a signing telegram to Governor Holcomb about this! Post, Call, Email, Voicemail, tweet, write him every five minutes! Send so many messages that his email, voicemail, twitter feed, and facebook starts begging you to stop! And then just keep piling on! Don't let up! Our freedom is at stake! Now get to work making some calls our friends!
Governor Eric Holcomb Contact Information:
 |
| Governor Eric Holcomb |
Twitter
Facebook:
Phone:
317-232-4567
Mail:
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Email form link for Governor Holcomb:
http://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm
Indiana Coalition for Open Government:
http://indianacog.org/
Indy Pro Society of Professional Journalists:
http://www.indyprospj.org/
Spread these statements all over the internet!
http://indianacog.org/icog-news/icogs-opposition-hb1523-gov-holcomb-must-veto/
http://www.indyprospj.org/news/2017/4/3/statement-on-senate-bill-1523
http://www.indianaforefront.com/bad-bills-never-die/
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